McLaren driver Norris balks at penalty: 'I need to be first'

Lando Norris will start Sunday's Spanish Grand Prix from eleventh position. The Briton had reached Q3, but his fastest time was taken away from him for exceeding track limits at turn 12.

The McLaren driver says that he was surprised by the deletion of lap times that cost him a place in the Q3 shootout. Indeed, he found the stewards' decision a bit odd. According to the race jury, Norris had exceeded the track limits on the outside of Turn 9.

When asked about deleting his time, Norris said he felt he had done nothing different than the laps before. “I don’t think anyone in the history of racing on this track has been done for track limits there,” Norris said. “I must be the first."

So Norris won't start in the top 10, where he said he belonged. So it was a frustrating afternoon, as the youngster presumed to have ended up around spot eight. Teammate Daniel Ricciardo did reach Q3, so the Australian will finally start ahead of Norris again.